Baby Steps
by HikaruluvsRoses
Summary: "It might be good for you to make some friends, Hakuryuu. And I don't see any harm in starting with Judal." Random Hakuei and Hakuryuu fluff in which Judal actually never shows up besides being talked about. Magi Week Prompt: Past and/or Friendship.


**Prompt:** Magi Week Day Four, Past and/or Friendship.

**Summary:** "It might be good for you to make some friends, Hakuryuu. And I don't see any harm in starting with Judal."

**Pairing(s)/Character(s):** Hakuryuu & Hakuei, and a looooot of mentions of Judal without him ever actually showing up

**Rating:** G

**Warning(s):** minor not-sexual-at-all sadism idk what more do you want from me

**Words:** 707

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"That boy is scary."

Hakuei blinks, turning away from her attempt at sewing to look at the speaker. For almost a quarter of an hour now, Hakuryuu has been sitting beside her in silence, watching every dip of the needle almost studiously as she practiced. She suspected that maybe her younger brother needed to talk about something, but this was not at all what she was expecting. "Which one would that be?" Hakuryuu says nothing for a moment, peering out the door behind them as though checking to make sure no one is eavesdropping. Allowing a shaky sigh to pass through his lips, the boy turns back to his sister, blue eyes full of hesitation.

"The black-haired one that came with Uncle today," the prince mumbles with yet another anxious look over his shoulder. "I don't like him much."

Ah.

Hakuei smiles slightly, dipping her needle yet again as she processes his answer. That morning, her uncle and the eldest two of her cousins had visited, tugging along a small crimson-eyed boy that her mother referred to as the "Magi". All morning, Judal - for that's what his name was, according to their father - seemed to have some weird fixation with pestering her youngest brother while her cousins had socialized with Hakuyuu and Hakuren. To make matters worse, her mother had spent _quite_ an amount of time doting on the "Magi", and, well... Her brother isn't exactly used to _sharing_ his mother with anyone. Still...

"You should try to get along," Hakuei says softly. "Father says that he will be staying with us from now on."

Her brother shoots her a mortified expression.

"But _why_?" Hakuryuu whimpers, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "He's a bully."

Hakuei giggles. "It might be good for you to make some friends, Hakuryuu. And I don't see any harm in starting with Judal." It's clear from even before she says it that Hakuryuu, on the other hand, sees a _lot_ of harm in befriending the other boy, and it becomes even clearer as the tears bubbling in his eyes finally spill over, his hands gripping at Hakuei's sleeves desperately.

"But he's so _mean_," Hakuryuu whines, and suddenly Hakuei finds that she can't really blame Judal for picking on her younger brother, as there is certainly something strangely _satisfying_ about seeing the boy cry. For a moment she considers pointing this out, but quickly decides that even if she's a bit sadistic whereas her youngest brother is concerned, she's not _that_ heartless.

"Perhaps he just struggles with expressing himself," Hakuei tries assuring him instead. But then she chooses to throw all caution to the wind and adds with a small smile, "Besides, you _are_ quite fun to tease. Hakuren would agree." Hakuryuu makes a strangled sound of protest as Hakuei's hand smooths his hair away from his forehead in some attempt to soothe him. "Really, though, I'm sure the two of you could get along. You're around the same age after all, right?"

Hakuryuu makes some sort of blubbery noise as he reluctantly nods. "I-I still don't really like him much, though."

"But if the two of you spend time together, you can _both_ enjoy Mother's attention at the same time," Hakuei probes further, deciding there is no harm in doing so now that Hakuryuu seems to be a bit more cooperative. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem _quite_ too open to that idea, as his face wrinkles with disgust.

"I don't _want_ to share Mother with anyone," he complains. "Especially some scary bully."

Hakuei simply shakes her head, turning back to her sewing attempts. "I really do think you should give him a chance." She pauses. "Father believes that everyone should be given an equal chance, after all."

Hakuryuu pouts. "Maybe I could... Try..." he mumbles reluctantly with a small sniff. "Just for Father." Hakuei nods approvingly.

"Good. You should try and go properly introduce yourself now."

"_Now_?" Hakuryuu whimpers incredulously. "Can't it wait?" Hakuei sighs.

"Only until I'm done this. Then I'll take you over to him myself, okay?" Hakuryuu nods, biting his lips anxiously.

"O-okay."

Hakuei looks to her brother, a soft smile tugging at her lips. "Don't worry; I'll be with you every step of the way."

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In which I got as close to shameless OTP interaction as I could without it _actually_ being shameless OTP interaction as I am a despicable human being. I wanted more EnEi hints, but Judal stole the spotlight _as per usual_. On the other hand, I have hopes for writing a piece solely devoted for those two where Hakuryuu or Judal don't show up for like more than one paragraph, if even that much. Uuuuum, but that's besides the point. uwu I hope you were able to enjoy this piece, as it was my first time writing Hakuei and only my second time writing Hakuryuu. Thank you for reading~


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